Do Readers Hold Female Authors to Higher Standards When It Comes to Violence and Profanity?
A few months ago a reader told me I write like a man. When I asked for clarification, the person said, “You know, the violence. Your…
I Tackled “The Goldfinch” and Won
Sugar sweet relief With mere hours ‘til book club I finished this tome A reading #haiku pic.twitter.com/fw7IUerSnT — Carrie Rubin (@carrie_rubin) January 6, 2016 I posted the above…
Story Engineering, Story Physics, and Story Fix: Blogging About Books by Brooks (Say That Ten Times Fast)
It’s no secret I’m a huge fan of Larry Brooks’s books. I’ve mentioned them several times on my blog as well as in the comment sections…
Eating Bull Has Launched—Let the Extroverted Games Begin
A few days ago I opened my Word documents and clicked on my Eating Bull file. I wanted to see when I first started the novel.…
Oh No, Not That Word Again: Uncommon Words Commonly Used in Fiction
You know how every action movie has a car chase? Every TV show a tidy resolution? Well, books have repetition too, and it comes in the…
Deep Genre: Taking the Thriller Beyond Cheap Thrills—Author Barbara Kyle
Last week author and story coach Barbara Kyle sent me a supportive email about my novel, Eating Bull, and the uphill publishing battle it’s faced given…
Careful, Your Frasier Crane Is Showing: Using Big Words In Writing When Smaller Ones Will Do
“It seems to be a pattern that if there is a normal word and an unconventional word, you pick the unconventional one. Sometimes that puts another…
